ESPN wasted no time reshuffling its college football power picture after a wild Week 1, and the first thing at the top is Texas sitting alone at No. 1.
That spot makes sense after the Longhorns hammered Texas State 59-7 on Saturday. Arch Manning led the charge with 305 passing yards, four touchdowns, and an interception, giving Texas the kind of opener that forces everyone else to chase.
Right behind the Longhorns is Ohio State at No. 2 after its own blowout, a 56-3 win over Ball State. Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith were operating at a different speed in that one, and ESPN’s ranking snapshot makes clear the Buckeyes will need that same kind of firepower if they’re going to take down Texas next Saturday.
The rest of the top five comes in with Notre Dame at No. 3, Miami at No. 4, and Georgia at No.
- Notre Dame handled Wisconsin, Miami got past Stanford, and Georgia beat Tennessee State.
There’s still one Week 1 game left on the schedule - SMU against Florida State - but ESPN’s updated FPI Top 25 already gives a fresh look at where the country stands after the first full Saturday of the season.
Here’s the full list of the updated ESPN FPI Top 25 rankings after Week 1:
Texas
Ohio State
Notre Dame
Miami
Georgia
Indiana
LSU
Oregon
Alabama
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Texas Tech
USC
Penn State
South Carolina
Ole Miss
Florida
Tennessee
BYU
Michigan
Pittsburgh
Nebraska
Utah
SMU
Virginia
In Other News...
Texas Made Its Week 1 Statement But One Poll Question Remains
Texas opened the season with the kind of performance that tends to stick with voters, and in a crowded Week 1 landscape that mattered just as much as the win itself. Across the AP Top 25, several of the teams sitting near the top handled business in varying fashion, with Ohio State and Georgia among the other major names under review as the first rankings of the fall start to settle into place.
For Texas, the larger question is not whether the Longhorns made an early statement, but how much that statement will move them when the new poll comes out. Week 1 was full of small shifts rather than seismic ones, even as Michigan escaped with a controversial Hail Mary finish and other ranked teams offered enough evidence to nudge the order a little in either direction. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Suddenly Have A Derrek Cooper Problem They Didn't Expect
Texas had been getting encouraging early signs from freshman running back Derrek Cooper, whose burst and versatility gave the backfield another young option to track. Now, after an ankle injury suffered against Texas State, the Longhorns have a new concern on their hands, and it comes at a time when every healthy piece in the run game matters. Head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed the injury and said the team will keep monitoring Coopers condition.
Cooper is expected to wear a protective boot on his right leg for the foreseeable future, a sign that this is more than a short-lived bump in the road. For a freshman who had started to build momentum as a contributor, the immediate question is how long Texas will have to manage without him and how the staff reshuffles the depth chart in the meantime. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Gets Its First Real Test And Cam Coleman Added Heat
The first real measuring-stick game of Texas season arrives with a little extra edge attached. No. 5 Texas is set to host top-ranked Ohio State in one of the weekends marquee matchups, the kind of early-season showdown that can say plenty about where a team stands and how much room it has to climb. With College Football Playoff implications already hanging over the matchup, the Longhorns are getting a chance to prove themselves against the nations top team in front of a home crowd that has been waiting for something bigger than a warmup.
Cam Coleman has helped add to the noise around it. The Auburn transfer has already made his presence felt in Texas recent win over Texas State, and his confidence has only sharpened the sense that this is more than just another early test. For Texas, the questions are obvious enough: can the offense carry over its momentum, can the defense handle a powerhouse opponent, and can a statement game become the kind of win that changes how the rest of the season is viewed? [Read more 🡒]